hey baby, i think i wanna marry you
by coffeehelps
Summary: In which Finn and Rachel get engaged, and Kurt becomes known as Sergeant McFancy Pants during the wedding planning.


**This is just a fun little idea I came up with, and I thought I'd give it a shot. :) It should probably be rated a strong T, but I went with M due to cursing and mentions of sexual situations.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This story title comes from the song "Marry You" by Bruno Mars.**

* * *

 **one.**

"Wait. Wait a second."

Finn Hudson grabbed the hand of the woman walking beside him and pulled her to a stop. She paused in front of the door of his parents' house, and turned to him with an amused look on her face.

"Finn. What are you doing?" Rachel Berry asked. She smiled as she stepped closer to him and stretched up onto her tiptoes, brushing her lips lightly against his.

Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel's waist and pulled her closer. "I just want to give us a moment before we go in there and unleash the crazy."

Laughing, Rachel reached up and kissed him again. "Oh, come on. It's not going to be that bad!"

"You have met my family, right?" Finn smoothed his hand down her left arm and took her hand in his, playing with her tiny fingers until he felt the ring settled on her third finger. "As soon as they see this, they're going to completely lose it."

Beaming, Rachel held out her left hand. The sun caught the gorgeous diamond in the center of the band that Finn placed on her finger last night. After a year and a half of dating, Finn had made dinner for her and had proposed to her in the sweetest way. She had been flying high ever since, and had stopped what she was doing more than once just to stare at the ring.

"I think you're being a little bit dramatic about this," Rachel finally said. Before she could forget, she slipped the ring off of her finger and into her pocket. They had wanted the engagement announcement to be a surprise tonight. "They're going to be so happy for us!"

Finn groaned. "My mom is going to cry. And you know that Kurt is going to flip."

"Yes. But in a _good_ way."

After sighing once again, Finn pressed a hard, deep kiss to Rachel's lips. He was going to take advantage of these last calm moments together as much as could. Once they parted, Finn pushed open the door to his parents' house and pulled Rachel in after him.

"Oh, perfect timing!" Finn's brother, Kurt Hummel, said by way of greeting. "I just set the cheese plate out." Leaning over, he kissed Rachel's cheek as he pushed a glass of wine into her hand. Wrinkling his nose, he looked at his older brother. "I'm assuming you're going to have beer?"

"Yeah," Finn said, unaffected as he always was by his brother's judgment. Just to annoy Kurt even further, he said, "I'm going to drink it out of the bottle, too."

"Finn Hudson! You put that beer in a glass!"

Ducking his head, Finn pulled Rachel closer and whispered into her ear, "You see what I mean? He's already crazy about me putting my beer in a glass."

Rachel shushed Finn and took a sip of wine from her glass—she had a feeling she was going to need the alcohol tonight. They both headed further into house, where Finn's mother, Carole, and his step-father, Burt were sitting. Kurt's boyfriend, Blaine Anderson, was already parked in front of the cheese plate. He had a beer as well, but of course his was already in a glass. Blaine knew better than to poke the bear that was Kurt Hummel.

"Finny!" Carole immediately got to her feet and crossed the room, hugging her son tightly once she reached him. She grinned at Rachel and hugged her as well, kissing her on the cheek. "Rachel! It's so good to have you guys here."

"Mom, you had us over for dinner two nights ago," Finn reminded her. He shot Rachel a meaningful look, as if Carole acting like she hadn't seen them in years was proof that she was going to cry when they made their announcement.

Rachel rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the smile off of her lips. She had always adored Carole Hudson-Hummel, so she always welcomed the enthusiastic greetings. She hugged Carole in return and then joined Blaine at the table. Rachel swiped a slice of cheese from his hands and popped it into her mouth, grinning when he protested.

Meanwhile, Carole laws studying her son with an intensity that was slightly alarming. "Finn Hudson," she murmured, so as not to draw everyone's attention. "Is there something that you'd like to share with me?"

Finn schooled his features, making his face look as innocent as possible. It was a look that he had perfected when he was four years old. "Of course not, Mom." He and Rachel had agreed to make the announcement together, in front of the whole family. There was no way he was going to let his mother try and weasel it out of him now. "I'm going to go get a beer. And unlike some people, I'm not going to put mine in a glass!"

"Don't be an ass!" Blaine called after him.

Laughing, Finn circled through the house and into the kitchen. He pulled a beer from the fridge, and just as he was opening it, Burt came in. Finn offered Burt the beer he had just opened, which the older man accepted. Finn grabbed another beer for himself, and he tried not to feel too unnerved about the knowing look Burt was currently pinning him with.

"What?" Finn finally asked.

"You proposed to Rachel, didn't you?" Burt was grinning at him, and it was clear that he already knew the answer to the question.

Of course, Finn didn't even bother to deny it. Weeks ago, when Finn had finally bought the ring, he had revealed to his step father what he had been planning on doing—only after he had asked Rachel's fathers for permission, of course. "How did you know?"

Burt chuckled. "The two of you were grinning like idiots when you came in. I've been thinking it was going to happen for a while now."

Leaning against the kitchen counter, Finn took a sip of his beer. "Yeah, we're engaged. I still can't believe it, you know. I have no idea why she said yes."

Burt grinned at his stepson. "I have a few ideas."

The new fiancée in question entered the kitchen then, smiling when she saw Finn and Burt. "I was sent to get another bottle of wine," she said. "Kurt certainly is in a mood tonight, isn't he?"

"I'm assuming it's about to get even worse," Burt observed. He looked meaningfully at Rachel's left hand. "I hear congratulations are in order, young lady."

Rachel looked between and Finn and Burt—honestly, she wasn't surprised that Burt was the first to know. He was the calming, balancing anchor of the Hudson-Hummel family, after all. When Burt held his arms open, Rachel crossed the kitchen and hugged her future father-in-law.

"Don't worry, I'll keep it quiet until you and Finn decide to let everyone know," Burt told her.

"Actually…" Rachel slid her hand into her pocket and slid the ring back onto her finger. She looked up at Finn and moved into his arms. Finn smiled as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. He was pretty sure he knew what she was going to say.

"I was really hoping we'd just be able to let everyone know now," Rachel said. "I don't think I can keep it a secret for much longer."

Finn kissed Rachel on the lips. "I'm surprised you managed to keep it to yourself for this long, actually."

"Finn!"

* * *

 **two.**

Burt had returned to the living room five minutes ago, and Finn knew that they had approximately forty-five seconds of peace and quiet before Kurt demanded their attention. Finn put his hands on his fiancée's shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Are you absolutely sure that you want to do tell them right this second? We're going to lose at least two hours of a nice, quiet dinner."

Rachel took another moment to admire her ring, and then she grinned at Finn. "Finn Hudson, stop being such a big baby. We're going to tell your family, and we're going to celebrate, and it's going to be fine."

Finn looked skeptical as he took her hand and headed back into the living room. "Don't say that I didn't warn you."

They had barely entered the room before Kurt was talking to them. "There you two are! I was about to come and find you. Why do you insist on disappearing at the most inopportune moments?"

Ignoring his brother, Finn pulled Rachel close to his side. "Rachel and I have an announcement to make." He could see Kurt and his mother gearing up to make a comment, so Finn spoke faster to avoid any interruptions. "I asked Rachel to marry me last night."

Rachel held up her left hand, revealing her sparkling diamond ring. "And I said yes!"

Maybe half a second passed before Carole and Kurt exploded into motion. Carole launched herself from the couch and grabbed both Finn and Rachel in a hug at the same time as she burst into tears. Kurt, on the other hand, had retrieved an iPad from some hidden place, and was already talking a mile a minute about venues and color schemes. Blaine and Burt stood back, watching the whole scene unfold in front of them with matching looks of amusement on their faces.

Finn caught Rachel's eye over his mother's shoulder and grinned. She was still crying, and she still hadn't let them go. "I told you so."

* * *

 **three.**

Rachel was enjoying a very nice dream about a beach vacation with Finn, involving tropical drinks and zero clothing. So why in the hell was she hearing Kurt Hummel's voice?

Cracking open one eye, Rachel peeked over at the other side of the bed and saw that Finn was laying face down on the bed, with his pillow pulled over his head to cover his ears.

Rachel groaned. "Ugh. So I'm not imaging Kurt's voice, then?"

"Unfortunately, no." Finn's voice was muffled by the mattress, but he lifted the corner of the pillow and turned his face to look at her. "Let's start having really loud sex so he'll be forced to leave."

She scooted out of reach of Finn's extended hand and pulled the blankets up to cover her head. "No way. Kurt has killed any kind of mood."

Finn cursed under his breath just as the door to their bedroom opened. Kurt came bustling in with a clipboard attached to his hand. He perched himself on Rachel's side of the bed, and he patted her hip through the covers.

"Why are the two of you even still in bed?" Kurt demanded. "We have so much planning to do!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Finn demanded. He was hiding under his pillow again. "It's six o'clock in the morning. On a _Saturday_."

Kurt was unfazed by Finn's pointed comment. "I had to wait for a day that both of you were off."

"You have a job too, Kurt."

"Yes, but unlike you, I'm an excellent at multi-tasking. So I have no problem planning the wedding of the year while I'm at work, but this is a journey that we're going to have to go on together. A have a full day planned for us!"

Rachel could feel the tension radiating from Finn's side of the bed, and she knew that she had to diffuse the situation before Finn hit his brother with a pillow. "Kurt, it's early and neither of us have had coffee yet. Why don't you go out and get us coffee and breakfast, and _then_ we can talk about whatever you have on your dumb clipboard."

"It's not dumb," Kurt grumbled, but he listened to Rachel's suggestion and climbed off the bed. "I'll be back, and both of you had better be out of bed by then."

He left the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Finn waited a moment to make sure that he was truly gone before he took the pillow off of his head and pulled Rachel into his arms. She snuggled close to him, pulling the blankets further up around their bodies.

"You know there's a Starbucks down the road, right? He'll be back in twenty minutes with breakfast, and then we'll be at his mercy."

Rachel grinned at her fiancé with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "You know he only likes to get breakfast from that organic café with the free range eggs or whatever. It's going to take him at least fifteen minutes to get there, and you know that place as always crowded."

A smile formed on Finn's face as well. "Kurt's going to be away for at least an hour, then."

"Maybe even an hour and a half," Rachel confirmed.

Finn pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers. "So what you're saying is that we might have time for this?" As he spoke, he slipped his hands between Rachel's legs and began to stroke.

Rachel bit back a moan and pushed on Finn's chest until she was on his back and she was straddling his hips. Moving slowly, she began to grind against him. "Oh, we definitely have some time for that."

* * *

 **four.**

Rachel accepted the file the receptionist handed her as she passed the front desk. She flipped through it with one hand as she drank her coffee with the other. The lights shining overhead caught her ring, making the diamond sparkle crazily.

"You are definitely going to blind someone with that thing, Berry."

Rachel rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face as she turned to face one of her best friends. "Santana, I thought I told you that I would meet you for lunch in twenty minutes."

Santana shrugged her shoulders. "I got bored and I need a study break. Prepping to take the bar is zero fucking fun, you know."

Making a noise of sympathy, Rachel reached her desk and deposited the file she had just picked up. She scooped up her jacket and her purse and then slapped Santana's hand away from the file. Santana scowled at her and cursed again, this time in Spanish.

"What? I just wanted to see if you have the next big pop star in that file of yours."

Linking her arm with Santana's, Rachel let out a snort as they left the recording studio. "Probably not, but I have to check it out anyway. Will sent this one down."

Rachel was a talent recruiter for McKinley Records. It was her job to shift through the demos that was sent to the studio, and she was often sent out to check out the singers and bands that the studio wanted. It was a job that Rachel really loved, as she enjoyed just about anything that involved music.

"Let me guess," Rachel asked as she and Santana made their way down the block to their favorite café. "Quinn is already there, isn't she?"

"Of course she is," Santana said. "You know she likes to arrive obnoxiously early for shit. Now let me see that ring again.

Grinning, Rachel held her left hand out, so that both she and Santana could admire her ring. It was beautiful in its elegant simplicity, and Santana let out a low whistle as it sparkled in the mid-day sun.

"Finnegan actually did a pretty nice job with this," Santana noted.

Rachel's smile widened. "I'll be sure to tell him that you actually like him."

"Don't ruin all of my fun, Rachel!"

The two girls entered the café and found the other person of their trio, Quinn Fabray, sitting at their favorite table by the window. Hugs were exchanged, and there was even more squealing over Rachel's ring, as it was the first time Quinn had seen it.

"Be careful, Quinn," Rachel joked as she finally sat down at the table. "Now that my brother has seen this, you might be next."

Quinn smirked, her eyes sparkling. "Don't you think I've already been dropping hints?" Quinn had been dating Rachel's older brother, Noah Puckerman, for just over a year. It had actually been through Puck that Rachel had met Finn—he was Puck's best friend in college.

"Noah is dense," Rachel said. "You might be the one who ends up asking him."

That made Santana laugh outright, just as the waitress delivered their usual for lunch. The three girls met at the café for lunch at least twice a week—and that didn't include all of the times they were there for coffee breaks.

"So." Quinn stuck her fork in the middle of her Cobb salad and speared out a tomato. "Have you two started making any plans yet, or are you still basking in your newly-engaged glow?"

Rachel sighed heavily. "I'd _like_ to still be basking in my newly-engaged glow, but Kurt was at our apartment the day after we made the engagement announcement. At six in the morning."

The comment made Santana laugh into her iced tea. "Are you really surprised that Kurt would pull something like that? Because I'm totally not. In fact, I think you'll be in for a lot more of Kurt appearing at your apartment early in the morning."

It was like Kurt somehow knew he was being talked about. Without any warning at all, the man in question suddenly appeared at their table. Rachel blinked once, unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her. When she saw that it was, in fact, Kurt Hummel staring at her with a mildly annoyed look on his face, she cursed under her breath.

"That is so not the way you greet someone, Rachel Berry," Kurt said. "Especially someone who's here to help you."

"Here we go," Quinn muttered to Santana, who tried unsuccessfully to smother her laughter in her napkin.

"Kurt, what the hell are you doing here?" Rachel demanded.

Kurt sat in the chair next to Rachel and pulled a menu towards him, scanning it before he gestured for a waiter to come over. Rachel watched him with her mouth hanging partially open. He was acting like he should have been there all along, and she didn't miss the way that Santana and Quinn were not so successfully trying to hide their laughter.

"Finn had the locks on the apartment changed, so I couldn't get in. And neither of you are accepting my phone calls, so I had to take some drastic measures. I took the liberty of memorizing your schedule for the week."

Rachel blinked at him. "Of course you did."

A rather indignant look came over Kurt's face. "You know, I am offering to help you plan this wedding. I didn't need to do that, and—"

Reaching over, Rachel hugged Kurt tightly. She knew for sure that it would cut off his ranting before he could really get started, and she succeeded when Kurt felt silent. He hugged her back and relaxed, finally smiling a little.

"Of course we want you to help plan this wedding, Kurt," Rachel told him. "We just want you to ask before you come in with your poster boards and your binders and your planners."

Kurt sat up straight and adjusted the brightly colored scarf around his neck. "Well, this is me asking. I'm here now, aren't I? And I'll have you know that I have transferred everything to a tablet." He pulled an iPad out of his bag and brandished it in Rachel's face. "We're high-tech now."

A sigh blew past Rachel's lips, but she nodded her head, resigned. That was the closest she was going to get Kurt to asking, she knew. "Okay, fine," she relented.

Kurt squealed loudly and clapped his hands together. Both Quinn and Santana began to stand, saying something about having study and get back to work, but Rachel practically dove across the table and grabbed onto their wrists.

"No way. The both of you are staying here. You're my bridesmaids, so you have to suffer through this with me."

"Awwww, we're your bridesmaids?" Quinn imitated Kurt's squeal and immediately dropped back into her chair. "How exciting!"

Cue the dramatic gasp from Kurt. "Rachel! I had a whole plan about how you were supposed ask Quinn and Santana! We were going to Instagram it and everything!"

Rachel could feel a migraine coming on.

"Hummel, I will straight up cut you if you're going to act like this during this whole wedding planning thing," Santana threatened.

Naturally, Kurt ignored that threat. "Rachel, let me see your ring," he demanded.

Rachel held her left hand to her chest protectively. "Why?"

"Because." Reaching out, Kurt snagged Rachel's wrist and dragged her hand towards his face. He inspected the ring carefully, looking at it so closely that his eyes began to cross. "I need to see what kind of ring this is so I can decide what venues we need to consider."

"Um. Why?" Rachel asked. She could see where Kurt was coming from, but she also wasn't a hundred percent sure why those two things were connected.

An impatient noise escaped the back of Kurt's throat. He drew the iPad towards him and began typing out several notes. "Don't ask questions about things you don't understand, Rachel."

Santana dropped her head to the table. "We're going to need so much alcohol for this wedding, aren't we?"

* * *

 **five.**

Finn paused with his head underneath the hood of the 1974 Dodge Challenger he was currently repairing. He was almost positive he had just heard his brother's voice, but he couldn't be sure. When the only sound that reached him was the Boston song playing on the radio, Finn went back to tinkering with the engine of the automobile in front of him.

" _Finn!_ "

The shrill call of his name caused Finn to jerk and smack the back of his head on the hood of the car. Cursing loudly, Finn stepped around the Challenger just in time to see his brother come bustling into his garage. The first thing he noticed was the bright, lime green pair of pants Kurt was wearing. The second was the iPad he was holding, as if it held the meaning of life.

"Finn, there you are," Kurt said before he had even properly reached his brother. "I was hoping to catch you before you left for the end of the day."

"Why are your pants green?" Finn said by way of greeting.

Kurt huffed and rolled his eyes, ignoring Finn's question completely. "Can you please step away from the car? You're filthy enough as it is. I don't need you getting more car oil all over yourself before I can measure you."

"Measure me for _what_?" Finn demanded. Still, he stepped away from the Challenger and stood still as Kurt whipped out a tape measure from thin air. Sometimes, it was just easier not to argue with Kurt Hummel.

"Your tuxedo, of course." Kurt held the tape measure down the length of Finn's arm, and then made a note on the tablet in his hands. "It's going to be custom made. All of the tuxedos will be."

Given that Kurt was a fashion editor for _Vogue_ , Finn had expected nothing less. Still, he couldn't resist asking, "And you had to take my measurements right now? While I'm in the middle of working?"

"It was the only time I could get down here," Kurt told him distractedly. "Now hold your arms out."

Sighing loudly, Finn held his arms out and did as he was told. "I could have been in the middle of meeting with a customer, you know."

Kurt efficiently measured the length of Finn's leg. "Rachel said that you weren't going to be busy around this time."

Finn was definitely going to have words with his fiancée later. After Kurt's frantic phone call two nights ago at two o'clock in the morning, demanding to know if Rachel really wanted cream in her color scheme instead of ecru, they had both decided that they needed a little bit of a break from the wedding planning.

Finally finished with his measurements, Kurt stood up and patted Finn's shoulder. "I'm impressed that you actually followed directions for once." With that said, he tucked his iPad back into his bag and bustled out of the garage.

Finn gaped after him. "Hey!" he yelled, even though Kurt was already in the lobby. "I'm not that bad at following directions!"

* * *

 **six.**

Rachel dragged her fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp to make sure that she rinsed out all of the suds from her shampoo. It was the Sunday before a very busy week at work, and Rachel planned on drinking some tea and going to bed early.

Of course, if she had her way, Finn would be showering with her. He had been called into the garage to fix a motorcycle that one of his other mechanics was having trouble with, however, so Rachel was on her own for the evening.

It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Rachel was able to blast her favorite Broadway hits at maximum volume _and_ sing at the top of her lungs. Normally, Finn was a fan of her singing, but he drew the line at more than four Broadway songs in a row.

She was halfway through a rather fantastic rendition of "La Vie Boheme" (if she did say so herself), when she heard the door to the bathroom open. Rachel smiled to herself and pulled back the curtain slightly, sticking her head out.

Opening her mouth to greet her fiancé, she stopped short when she realized that it was decidedly _not_ the man she was going to marry. Instead, she was staring at Kurt Hummel, who had his phone held to his ear and hadn't stopped talking since he entered the bathroom.

"No, I know," he said. He seemed oblivious to the fact that Rachel was showering just a few feet from him, let alone that she was opening gaping in disbelief. "The bride is a staunch vegetarian, and the groom consumes meat like there's no tomorrow. You're going to have to work with me here, Philippe. We need to come up with a menu that will satisfy all parties involved."

Rachel could take it no more. "Kurt," she stated. She tried to keep her voice as calm as possible, but she could hear the note of rising hysteria.

He held up a hand to stop her from interrupting him further. "Just come up with a few menus and email them to me in two days. I'll go over them with the bride and groom later."

"Kurt," Rachel repeated.

Of course, he still ignored her. "If you include bacon in at least two of the dishes, Finn is bound to agree. I already had to promise him that his favorite beer would be a part of the open bar."

"Oh my god. _Kurt._ " Keeping the shower curtain in front of her so that her naked body was hidden from view, Rachel reached forward and snatched the phone from Kurt's hand. Speaking into the mouth piece, she said, "Kurt is going to have to call you back," before she hung up.

"Rachel!" Kurt admonished. "How rude!"

"What the hell are you doing, Kurt?" Rachel demanded. She handed the phone back to him, though she had seriously considered attempting to drown it in her shower.

Kurt sat primly on the closed lid of the toilet seat. "Obviously, I was discussing the menu for your reception with Philippe. I really do wish that you had managed to convert my brother into a vegetarian. It would have made planning this whole meal much easier."

Rachel blinked at him. "Kurt. Seriously."

"Anyway, I had a question for you. How do you feel about a pasta course?"

She gripped the shower curtain tightly in her hands. "Are you telling me that you barged into my bathroom while I was in the middle of taking a shower so you could ask me about pasta?"

"Well, of course. Philippe needs to know in advance. What if you wanted truffle pasta? We would need to order those ahead of time!"

"Kurt, I don't think you understand." There was no escape. She was stuck in the bathroom, at the mercy of Kurt and his questions about menus, until he decided to leave. "You interrupted me during my shower to ask me questions about _pasta_."

Kurt finally looked at her and rolled his eyes. "Will you just answer the question, please?"

They stared at each other for several long moments. Kurt wasn't going to budge, clearly. Planning this wedding had really become an exercise in Rachel's patience.

She huffed grudgingly and ducked back under the spray of the shower, cranking it all the way up to the highest heat setting. "Truffle pasta does sound really good," she admitted.

* * *

 **seven.**

"The garden."

"Yes."

"You're absolutely sure you want the garden?"

"Yes."

"In June?"

"Yes."

"And you want a tent set up for the reception?"

"Yes."

"At the garden? In June? You're positive?"

"Yes, Kurt!"

Rachel smiled pleasantly and took a sip of her mimosa. When they had to meet Kurt for brunch, Rachel had immediately ordered a pitcher full of mimosas and kept them coming. It was safe to say that she was well on her way to a nice buzz. Finn enjoyed the occasional glass of champagne, but he wasn't too crazy about the orange juice part of the mimosa. So he was very, very sober, and Kurt was quickly getting on his last nerve.

Kurt held his hands up, but he finally relented. "I just want to make sure that they two of you are absolutely sure, that's all. This is going to be the wedding of the year, you know."

Finn shot his brother an annoyed look. Of course, he completely appreciated everything that Kurt was doing for them. Despite his overbearing nature, Kurt actually was quite good at planning events such as this. Finn knew, at the end of it all, that he and Rachel would have a beautiful wedding.

All he wanted was to be married to Rachel. He was doing all of this extra stuff for the benefit of Rachel and their friends and family. So he would go along with this, but that didn't mean that he couldn't poke fun of his younger brother.

"Can't you and Blaine just get engaged so you can be a pain in the ass about your own wedding?" Finn asked.

Of course, Kurt ignored that comment. Instead, he cast his gaze towards Rachel and scrolled through the schedule he had on his tablet. "Rachel, we have an appointment at the bridal salon tomorrow at twelve PM. Of course, Carole, your fathers, Santana, and Quinn are all going to be there. Please remind Santana that she _cannot_ be late."

Rachel sighed. "Kurt."

"I'm serious, Rachel," Kurt said. "These people are clients of ours." Kurt was a fashion editor at _Vogue_ , so of course he had managed to get them an appointment at one of the most prestigious bridal salons in the city. Rachel was both looking forward to the appointment and terrified of it at the same time.

"I know, Kurt," Rachel said patiently. "But you know that they more you push Santana, the more she'll do the exact opposite of what you want."

Kurt waved his hand dismissively. "Just tell her that there will be alcohol there. I'm sure she'll show up on time."

Rachel couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips at that. It was true, after all. She looked over at Finn, who was chuckling himself. Of course, it didn't take long for Kurt to turn his attention back to his older brother.

"And you and the boys have your first fittings next weekend," Kurt ordered. "And yes, Finn, you're in charge of making sure that Puckerman gets there on time."

"Why am I in charge of that?" Finn demanded. "You're the wedding planner! And he's Rachel's brother!"

Rachel slid her hand over Finn's arm and stroked soothingly. She reached up and pressed a kiss to his cheek, and he managed a smile for her. Despite the little display of PDA, Kurt smiled affectionately at both of them. It really was a very sweet moment.

Of course, he had to ruin said moment by whipping his phone out and snapping a picture of Rachel kissing Finn's cheek—with the flash on.

"Kurt! Dude!" Finn exclaimed. He hadn't expected to be blinded by a flash. "What the hell was that for?"

"It's for the picture slide show that we're going to have during the reception," Kurt said. "Duh."

Finn waited patiently for their waiter to come back to the table. Once he was there, Finn asked, "Is it too early to have a beer?"

* * *

 **eight.**

"Kurt, this ball gown is bigger than I am."

Rachel stood in front of the rack of dresses that Kurt had presented to her in the bridal salon. So far, she had seen about two dresses that she wouldn't mind trying on—and that certainly didn't mean that she would end up liking them.

Kurt had no time for Rachel's protests. "Rachel, you just need to try it on. You never know what it could look like! You may end up loving ball gowns."

Rachel seriously doubted that. Kurt's prima donna attitude had seemed intensify ten-fold in the twenty-four hours between their brunch and Rachel's appointment at the bridal salon. She cast a helpless look in Carole's direction, and—god bless the woman—she came bustling over to distract her son.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Rachel wandered around the bridal salon on her own, pulling out some dresses that interested her. She had no idea what she wanted to wear, so she was willing to try on just about anything. Annie, their consultant, seemed to pick up on Rachel's unease and pulled a dress in every silhouette for Rachel.

In order to appease Kurt, Rachel tried on the overly large ball gown first. She frowned at her reflection in the mirror of the dressing room—it was almost as if she was a small child trying to play dress up. It was clear that the embellished ball gown was no the dress for her.

"Come on, Rachel!" Kurt called. "Let us see the dress!"

"No!" Rachel retorted. "Absolutely not!"

"Rachel, don't be difficult."

"You need to stop being difficult!" Rachel shot back. "I'm not coming out!"

Rachel heard a murmured conversation between Carole, Hiram, and Kurt, though she couldn't make out the actual words. Eventually, though, Kurt admitted defeat and grudgingly told Rachel that she didn't have to show them the ball gown.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Rachel changed into a slip dress that Annie had pulled for her. It was made of white satin and it was fairly plain, though Rachel did feel comfortable enough to show her friends and family (she absolutely _refused_ to call them an entourage). Even though Rachel knew that this wasn't the dress, she still wanted their feedback.

As expected, everyone in her party wanted more from the dress. Rachel had a bright, dramatic personality that drew people in—everyone wanted her to have a dress that would pull the same sort of attention. The next dress that Rachel tried on was a tight, mermaid piece, and she was a little bit surprised that she didn't love it as much as she thought she would.

They went through five more dresses—three of Kurt's picks, and two that Annie had given her. One of Kurt's dresses involved feathers, and Rachel refused to leave the fitting room, no matter what Kurt attempted to bribe her with. The two that Annie had picked for her were mermaid style—one was so skin tight that Rachel couldn't breathe, and one had a trumpet-type skirt that she wasn't fond of.

A dress that Kurt had picked out for her actually ended up being the one that she liked the most. It had a corset top and a skirt that was full, but not so much that she couldn't walk. It still wasn't _the one_ , though.

Carole handed Rachel another glass of champagne and gave her a sympathetic look. "Sweetie, are you sure that you don't want to make another appointment and come back another time? You don't need to decide today."

Rachel snorted. "Try telling Kurt that. He had one day in his super special schedule for picking a dress. God forbid we ruin his plans."

Carole sighed and made a mental note to have a talk with Kurt when this appointment was over. He needed to take a break with his whole intense wedding planning thing, or he was going to severely piss off the two most important people—the bride and the groom.

"I'm giving this another forty-five minutes, and then we're all going to lunch. I think we need a break."

Santana had entered the fitting room just as Rachel said, "You might want to take his iPad from him. God knows that's the only way Kurt is ever going to stop planning this wedding for even five minutes."

"I'm on it!" Santana exclaimed as she spun on her heel and disappeared back out onto the main floor of the salon. Ten seconds later, they heard Kurt shriek and then start yelling at Santana to give his tablet back.

Carole sighed heavily. "I guess I'll go referee."

Rachel only had another thirty seconds to herself before Leroy slipped into the dressing room, holding a gown on a hanger behind his back. Rachel watched her papa with her eyebrows raised and an amused smile playing on her lips. Out of all of the people she had expected to suggest a dress for her, Leroy had been in the last.

"Okay, pumpkin. I know you're probably at the end of your rope with this whole trying to find a wedding dress thing, but I found one that I really think you should try on." Leroy held the dress out, and Rachel's eyes went wide. All she could do was nod her head, and Leroy chuckled as he handed the gown over and called Annie in to help her into the dress.

A few minutes later, Rachel was staring at her reflection in the mirror. The only word that was going through her mind was "perfect." The dress was everything she had dreamed it would be, and she hadn't even known she was looking for a dress like this.

"This is it, isn't it?" Annie asked.

Rachel could only nod her head. Smiling, Annie opened the door to the dressing room and led Rachel out to the center of the salon floor. She was beaming so brightly in the gown that everyone stopped and turned to look at Rachel—there wasn't a single person in the whole boutique that wasn't admiring Rachel.

The bodice had a champagne-colored lining with a beautiful lace overlay. A frothy, tiered tulle skirt floated to the floor, and the back of the dress was completely open, with small straps crisscrossing over Rachel's back. A jeweled belt cinched in her waist, and Annie tucked a veil into Rachel's hair, completing the look.

"Oh my god, Rachel," Quinn finally said. "You look _amazing._ "

"It's perfect." Santana sniffed and accepted the tissue that Hiram offered her. "You look like a fucking princess."

For once in agreement with Santana, Kurt nodded his head. "While this wasn't a gown that I picked—"

"Kurt Hummel!"

" _Seriously?_ "

"Shut the hell up!"

"—I have to say, this is amazing." Kurt's eyes were shining as he crossed the salon and wrapped his arms around Rachel. "You look beautiful."

The tears that Rachel had been attempting to hold back finally began to spill over, and she hugged Kurt back tightly. Finally, after four hours in the wedding boutique, they had found her perfect dress.

"Now, if we could just get this champagne lining changed to ivory—"

" _Kurt!_ "

* * *

 **nine.**

"This is what I've been waiting for." Finn rubbed his hands together and was barely able to contain his glee as he sat down at the counter of the bakery he and Rachel had just entered.

With an amused look on her face, Rachel (who was still standing in the doorway to the bakery—Finn had sprinted to the counter as soon as they had walked over the threshold) followed her fiancé to the counter. She slid into the seat next to him and couldn't hold back the giggle at his childlike look of excitement.

"Don't hold back, Finn," Rachel joked.

Finn wasn't even put off by her teasing. "Rach, this is going to be the best part of the whole wedding. Aside from the actually marrying you part, that is. And the wedding night sex. The honeymoon sex, too." He smirked at her, and Rachel rolled her eyes and pushed at his shoulder.

"I'm serious, though," Finn continued. "We're picking our wedding cake today, babe." He pointed to the menu that had been set in front of them, even though Kurt had expressly stated that they weren't to look at it until he arrived. "We have so many options to choose from!"

Rachel sighed and looked heavenward. "Our cake is going to be four layers of different flavors, isn't it?"

Of course, Finn ignored that particular statement—mostly because it was an idea that he hadn't completely written off yet. Why limit the cake to only one flavor? There were so many possibilities.

Samples of the basic flavors—chocolate and vanilla—were arranged in front of them, and Finn already had his fork in his hand. He was just about to try the chocolate when he heard a shrill, familiar voice screech his name.

" _Finn Hudson!_ Don't you _dare_ touch that cake!"

Finn cursed under his breath and closed his eyes. Next to him, Rachel was trying to hold in her laughter as best as she could. This was totally pay back for having to go through picking a wedding dress with Kurt. This was going to Finn's own personal hell.

Kurt stomped up to the counter and stared at his brother as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What did I say, Finn?"

"Kurt, it's just chocolate cake!" Finn protested. "Come on, just let me try it!"

Kurt looked over at Rachel. "Do you want chocolate for your wedding cake, Rachel?"

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "I love chocolate cake, but I'm open to other options." When Kurt grinned triumphantly, Rachel held up her hand. "But that doesn't mean that we can't try some flavors, Kurt. I think we're perfectly capable of picking some cake flavors, you know."

"What if you pick a hideous shade for the icing, though?" Kurt demanded. "It could clash with the color scheme!"

Finn dropped his head against the counter as Rachel sighed. "Kurt. The cake will be white. Calm down."

"But—"

" _Kurt._ " If he said something about it being the wrong shade of white, Rachel was going to rip the scarf from Kurt's neck and strangle him with it.

Finn lifted his head from the counter. "I want to try some of the red velvet cake," he declared.

The woman behind the counter immediately went about preparing a sample for them while Kurt made a face. "Finn, you know I hate red velvet cake!"

Finn shot his younger brother a smug look. "Yeah, but it's not your wedding cake."

Kurt scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, mumbling under his breath about annoying older brothers. He grumbled for a few minutes before he reached for the menu and pulled it towards him. Rachel watched the two of them with an amused look on his face; she had a feeling that this was more about Kurt, Finn, and the cake than it was about her.

"Can we have a filling in one of the layers?" Finn asked.

"Finn! That is so tacky!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Kurt, it's _cake_. How can it be tacky?"

Rachel covered her face with her hands and prayed for patience.

* * *

 **ten.**

Rachel collapsed on the couch next to Finn with an exhausted sigh. She managed to remain upright for about thirty seconds before she lay down and put her head in Finn's lap. He easily took her hint and started to comb his fingers gently through her h air. Rachel hummed happily and snuggled closer to him, rubbing her cheek into his thigh.

Their trip to pick out the flavor of their wedding cake turned into a three hour debate between Kurt and Finn. Rachel was just happy that she got her chocolate cake in the end. She even got some chocolate ganache out of it, which was just fine by her.

"I'm sorry Kurt is being such a pain in the ass," Finn apologized suddenly. "You know I love him and I would do anything for him, but he's driving me crazy."

Rachel giggled and turned a little so she could see Finn's face. "I think he just wants to make this as perfect as possible for us. I don't mind it… that much. I just wish he would stop texting me every five minutes about what kind of fabric I would prefer for our napkins."

As if on cue, Rachel's phone chimed with yet another text message from Kurt. Rachel groaned while Finn made a face. He picked up Rachel's phone and tossed it across the room, where it bounced gently against the arm chair. He slipped his fingers under Rachel's chin and tilted her head up. Smiling, he brushed his lips gently against hers.

"Let's just forget about the wedding planning for tonight," Finn suggested.

Rachel sat up and reached over to kiss Finn again, but was interrupted when her phone chimed again. She let out a sigh against Finn's lips and shot a dark glare at the offending piece of technology.

"I'm going to hurt him."

"Forget about him," Finn said. He pressed his lips to her Rachel's neck and sucked gently at her pulse point.

The phone dinged again. "How?"

Finn hauled Rachel into his lap and laid a kiss on her that wiped her mind completely. All thoughts of color schemes and icing flavors and chair types and flower arrangements disappeared from her mind. She could only think about how Finn's lips felt on hers, and how his hands had found their way underneath her shirt.

"Are you distracted yet?" Finn murmured as his lips moved down her neck once again. One of Finn's hands slid between her legs, and Rachel moaned loudly.

Her phone dinged three times in a row, but Rachel was sufficiently distracted and didn't hear it anymore. Finn, however, was just about done with it. He cursed under his breath and moved to reach for the phone, but Rachel stopped him with a hand on his chest.

"Nope. We're busy right now."

Finn looked up at Rachel, opening his mouth to point out just how annoying Kurt was being. His words were choked off when she rolled her hips against his.

Grinning, Finn kissed her again. All of Kurt's text messages went unanswered that night.

* * *

 **eleven.**

"This has to be some kind of joke."

Santana's eyes were narrowed in a dangerous glare as she watched Kurt pull a pair of sparkly high heels from a box. Quinn just looked thoroughly amused, but she said nothing as Kurt directed them to the other side of the room.

"Berry, aren't you going to do anything about this?" Santana demanded.

"Nope." Rachel took a long sip of her chair latte and flipped a page of the book she was reading. "This is the one wedding planning activity that I don't have to physically be involved in."

Santana shook a threatening finger in Rachel's direction. "Hello, if anyone should practice walking in heels, it's Rachel. I've been walking in heels since I was four years old!"

Quinn snorted. "Oh my god, you have not."

"Be that as it may," Kurt began, "it's likely that you're not walking in heels the way that _I_ want you to."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

Rachel hid behind her book in an effort to disguise her laughter.

Kurt ignored Santana and continued talking as if he hadn't been interrupted. "And that is why I have created this obstacle course for you."

He stepped back and gestured to the course he had set up throughout Finn and Rachel's apartment. It involved cones set up in a weaving pattern, one of Finn's old agility ladders from when he played football, a balance beam raised a few inches off of the ground, and hopscotch made with chopsticks from Finn and Rachel's takeout drawer.

Quinn tilted her head as she studied the obstacle course, while Santana's face slowly turned bright red. "How did you even manage to get this set up?" she asked.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "Finn and I woke up to this," she said.

Kurt waved his hand dismissively. "I have my ways." He handed Santana and Quinn a box each. "These are yours to keep. They aren't the ones you'll be wearing for the wedding, of course. I'm having those heels custom made. I pulled a few strings at work, and this is just a token of my appreciation."

Curious, Quinn lifted the lid on the box while Santana reluctantly did the same. They both gasped as they each unearthed a pair of black Christian Louboutin leather pumps. Rachel sat up straight in her chair and dropped her book as she gaped at the shoes.

"Oh my god," Quinn whispered. She reverently held the shoes up. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she didn't care. They were amazing shoes, after all.

"Holy shit," Santana added. "This makes up for this fucking ridiculous obstacle course. _Almost._ "

Rachel jumped out of the chair and poked Kurt in the shoulder. "Where are mine?" she demanded. There was no way that he bought pairs for Santana and Quinn, but not her. She wasn't about to let him get away with that.

Kurt grinned at her. "They're in your bedroom. I hid them behind some of Finn's ugliest plaid shirts. You know, the ones that are so old and horrendous that even you won't touch them."

Rachel ignored that jab (she loved to wear Finn's flannel shirts around the apartment, and she didn't care if Kurt didn't approve of them) and smacked a kiss against Kurt's cheek in thanks. She was certainly willing to put up with this part of the bridesmaid boot camp—and Santana and Quinn's bitching—if it meant that she got a pair of Christian Louboutin pumps out of it.

"You'll be getting your very own obstacle course," Kurt warned Rachel as she hugged him. "Santana was right. You're going to need the most help out of everyone walking in heels." Kurt clapped his hands together then and pointed to the beginning of the obstacle course. "Alright, get those pumps on! Rachel, I'm going to need you to time them."

"Bite me, Hummel," Santana snapped. There was less bite to her tone as she slipped the heels on, however. When Rachel began her timer, Santana confidently weaved through the cones and handled the agility ladder with ease. She hardly even wobbled on the balance beam, either, and it made Rachel smile. There were many memories with Santana wearing sky-high heels as they escaped from busted parties in college. She certainly had her practice.

In the end, it was the hopscotch that was Santana's undoing. As she jumped from one square to the next, her foot came down wrong and she teetered to the side. In an effort to correct her balance, Santana ended up swinging her body back too far and landed flat on her ass.

The whole room was silent for a moment, and Santana blinked up at them in shock. When she didn't immediately cry out in pain, laugher sputtered from Rachel and Quinn's lips at the same time. Santana immediately let loose a stream of Spanish curses. It was more the shock of the fall than anything else, and she was perturbed the something as simple as a hopscotch course had defeated her—even if she had been attempting to do it in four-inch pumps.

Kurt was standing above Santana with his arms crossed over his chest. "You're going to have to do it again, you know."

"Fuck you, Hummel!" Santana screeched. Her face had turned an interesting shade of purple, and Rachel was briefly concerned for her friend's blood pressure. She flipped him her middle finger for good measure. "I was doing fine until then!"

Shrugging his shoulders, Kurt grabbed the stop watch from Rachel and pointed to the beginning of the obstacle course. "Start again."

Santana clambered to her feet and poked Kurt in the chest. "I'd like to see you do this obstacle course when I shove these four-inch pumps up your ass!"

Quinn and Rachel exchanged a look. This was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

 **twelve.**

Rachel peered around her before she pulled her baseball cap lower on her head, so the brim covered her face. She didn't want to risk being noticed, so she didn't care if she had gone a little overboard with her disguise.

They were officially three months from the wedding, and Rachel had been desperate to escape from Kurt. She had ditched Kurt's napkin folding lesson for the rehearsal dinner and had gone to visit Finn at the garage instead. Since Kurt now had a knack for appearing wherever Rachel was (she was convinced that he had put some kind of tracking device on her phone), she had decided to leave her phone behind and had gone to visit her soon to be husband in disguise.

It was close to closing, so Finn was the only in the garage. He was working on a cherry-red Mustang convertible, and Rachel took a moment to admire him in his coveralls. Damn, he looked good.

Finn noticed her as she pulled off her hat and shed the sweatshirt she had been wearing. He grinned and pulled her into his arms as soon as she was close enough, laying a kiss on her lips that left her breathless. Rachel leaned against door of the Mustang and closed her eyes as Finn nuzzled his nose into her neck.

"Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants finally got to you, huh?" Finn murmured.

Rachel immediately dissolved into laughter at the mention of Kurt's new moniker. Finn had bestowed it upon him at the final fitting for his tuxedo, and Rachel had been able to witness the epic moment. She only wished that she had managed to capture the look on Kurt's face on camera.

"Kurt is crazy if he thinks that I'm going to spend the next three hours learning how to fold napkins," Rachel said once her laughter had died down.

Finn kissed her again. "You know, this is the first place that he's going to look for you."

Rachel stretched up onto her tiptoes. "Not if you lock the doors."

That was all the encouragement that Finn needed. Since the garage was now closed, Finn made sure that the rest of his employees had gone home before he locked all of the doors. He made absolutely certain that both his and Rachel's phones were on silent before he crossed the garage and kissed his fiancée once again.

Rachel began to unbutton his coveralls. "I think we have about two hours until Kurt finds a way to break in here."

Finn opened the back door to the convertible and climbed in. He patted the space next to him, but Rachel didn't one better by climbing onto Finn's lap altogether. His hands smoothed up her back, and then he swiftly removed her shirt. The grin on his face widened when he saw that she had completely forgone a bra underneath her shirt.

"We better make those most of those two hours then, huh?" Finn asked. He kissed her neck, and Rachel moaned appreciatively.

They would definitely get some much-needed alone time out of those two hours.

* * *

 **thirteen.**

Rachel accepted the glass of sangria from her future mother-in-law with a grateful smile. They had all agreed to gather at the Hudmel house for a family dinner. Of course, Kurt had used that as an opportunity to talk about wedding plans.

They were now down to sixty-eight days until the wedding. Kurt had an official countdown going on all of their phones, and it annoyed Finn to no end that he hadn't yet figured yet how to disable it. He liked to consider himself pretty technologically savvy, but Kurt had overrode some feature on his phone that made it impossible to get around.

No matter how many talks Carole had with Kurt, he always went back to Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants mode. Both Carole and Burt had already mediated several arguments between Kurt and Finn over Kurt's obsessive planning and Finn's new nickname for him, but no truce had been reached. Rachel had removed herself from that situation entirely by playing the "I'm the bride" card. It was one of the times she could actually get away with it, so she planned on using it to the full advantage.

"Are Kurt and Finn arguing again?" Rachel asked.

"Of course they are," Carole confirmed with a laugh. "The two of them are the closest brothers I've ever seen, but they butt heads like no other. I sent Burt in to referee this one. I'm tapping out for now." Carole collapsed on the couch next to Rachel with a glass full of her own sangria. She deserved it, after all. It was no joke being the mother of both the groom and the wedding planner.

Rachel giggled at that. "Finn and I keep talking about how amazing this wedding is going to be. We don't let Kurt know that, of course." She took a sip of her drink, and then smiled when she could just hear the sounds of Kurt and Finn arguing once again.

" _Finn, this is simple! Why can't you just follow the directions I've given you?_ "

" _Listen, Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants, I don't need to know how to fold these damn napkins into a damn swan!_ "

" _Stop calling me that!_ "

Unable to hold back her laughter, Rachel tucked her face into her glass and tried to smother her giggles against the sangria. Carole didn't bother to disguise her laughter at all. Instead, she laughed so hard that Burt heard her and came into the living room. He sank onto the couch next to her and pulled his hat off, rubbing his hands over his bald head.

He stared at his wife with an eyebrow raised, but her laughter proved to be too infectious. Pretty soon, Burt was laughing along with Carole and Rachel. The noise was so loud that it drew Kurt and Finn into the living room as well. They were both still arguing, and Kurt was waving one cream-colored napkin over his head while Finn was attempting to whip his brother with another one.

"Why are you laughing?" Kurt demanded. "Folding the napkins into swans is serious business!"

"Kurt." Rachel stood up and took both of the napkins from Finn and Kurt, lest they inflict actual damage on one another—she wouldn't put it past them, honestly. "I seriously don't need napkins folded into swans at my rehearsal dinner. I think you can let this one go."

"But—"

"Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants. No swans. Seriously."

Kurt's face immediately turned purple, and he shook his swan napkin so hard that it fell apart. "STOP CALLING ME THAT."

Burt still had his hat off, but he was hiding behind it in order to keep his son from seeing his smile. He couldn't help the comment he made, though. "Just take a deep breath and calm down… Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants."

Kurt rolled his eyes towards the ceiling and exhaled slowly. "I hate you all."

* * *

 **fourteen.**

Finn dropped his cell phone and closed his eyes. "That's it. I'm going to find Kurt, and I'm going to kick his ass."

Rachel looked up from the garlic she had been mincing. Her eyebrows rose towards her hairline, but she bit her lip to keep the amused smile off her face. "What happened now?"

"That was the florist." Finn's phone chimed three times in a row, and he made a face before he turned it on to silent. "Kurt made her cry. Again. She threatened to quit."

Rachel dropped her knife on the counter and ran over to Finn. She loved that florist and the arrangements that they had planned for the reception. Not to mention, the florist had already designed the most beautiful bouquet of pink tulips for her. There was no way that Rachel was going to let Kurt harass the florist into quitting.

"You made sure that she wouldn't, right?" Rachel demanded. "Finn, the florist was the only thing I got to pick, and that's because my daddy knew her. We got a great deal on those flowers, and there is no way I can give that up!"

"Relax, Rach." Finn wrapped an arm around Rachel's waist and pulled her into his lap. He pressed a kiss to her temple and smoothed his hand up and down her back. "It's fine. The florist isn't going to quit. I managed to smooth things over."

Rachel exhaled in relief and cuddled into Finn, tucking her face against his neck. Finn had somehow become the peacemaker during this whole wedding planning extravaganza. It didn't matter how many disagreements Kurt got into with the caterers, or the bridal salon, or the photographer, Finn always fixed it. It seemed that he had a talent for smoothing things over with the people Kurt pissed off.

There had been an incident with the event planner at the hotel where they were planning on holding the reception about a week ago (even though Finn and Rachel had originally planned on having their reception outdoors, under a tent, Kurt had somehow convinced them to change it to the ballroom. Sometimes, it was just easier to let him have his way). Kurt had made some sort of snide comment after he had spent hours bickering back and forth with the event planner. That comment had been the last straw for the event planner, apparently; he had actually tried to punch Kurt.

Finn had easily defused the fight and had someone managed to fix the whole situation. At the end of it all, the event planner had even given them a discount on the venue. Rachel had been shamelessly exploiting Finn's newfound talent, and Finn was more than happy to do it. He was willing to do whatever he could to keep Rachel happy during the wedding planning.

"You're the reason that I've stayed sane during this whole thing," Rachel told Finn. She nuzzled her lips against his neck and then placed a gentle kiss under his jaw. "If it wasn't for you, there's a good chance that I would have completely lost it by now."

Finn chuckled as his fingers stroked through Rachel's long hair. "You're just happy that I'm here to annoy Kurt so that he yells at me and not you."

That made Rachel laugh. It was true, after all. "I suppose you're right. Still, you've saved this wedding more than once." She shifted slightly in his lap, so that she was facing him. Leaning forward, she cupped his face in both of her tiny hands and kissed him tenderly. "I love you, Finn Hudson."

The half-smile that formed on Finn's face was one of her favorites. "I love you too, Rachel Berry."

Finn was about to kiss her again when there was a knock on the door. He decided to ignore it—they were engaged and about to be married, after all. He was sure that their visitors would forgive the couple for ignoring them.

Just as Finn kissed Rachel again, there was another knock. And then another one. Yet another knock followed that one, but this time it was more of a bang. Rachel sighed before she climbed off of Finn's lap and went to the door.

Sighing, Finn reached for his phone and checked his messages to make sure that there was no one else complaining about Kurt. He waited patiently for Rachel to come back, hoping that Rachel would be able to get rid of whomever it was. He had plans for her tonight.

It seemed that they wouldn't get their night alone, however. There was a second set of footsteps that joined Rachel as she came back into the living room. Finn wished he could say that he was surprised that it was Kurt that was following Rachel, but he really wasn't. He was a little surprised to find that Kurt had a bag slung over his shoulder, though.

What was even more interesting was the look on Rachel's face. Finn stood up and took her hand, his thumb rubbing a soothing pattern over his knuckles. "Rach?"

Rachel managed a tired smile in Finn's direction. "Apparently, Kurt has decided that we're so close to the wedding, he needs to monitor everything."

"Monitor everything?" Finn repeated. "What the hell does that mean?"

Kurt smiled brightly at the couple. "It means that I'll be staying with you until the wedding, of course!"

* * *

 **fifteen.**

"Ugh, finally." Santana took a swig from the flask that she had hidden in her bra. "It's about time that we got to this fucking rehearsal dinner. I was going to hit Kurt if he texted me one more time about the seating chart…" She trailed off and started mumbling under her breath in Spanish.

Seeing the look that Quinn was giving her, Santana offered her flask to her friend. "Want some?"

Quinn's nose wrinkled in disgust. "No way. You've had that flask in your _bra_ , Santana."

"So?" Santana shrugged her shoulders and took another long drink while Quinn made gagging noises. Puck, who had been teasing Finn about something, made his way over to the girls and swiped the flask from Santana.

"Thanks, S," Puck said as he knocked back a shot of his own. He smirked and then leaned down to kiss Quinn. "We should do a shot every time Kurt does something annoying."

"Babe, we'll end up with alcohol poisoning in about twenty minutes if we play that game," Quinn pointed out. She looked across the room, where Kurt was talking Rachel's ear off about something—probably about the wine pairings with each course of the dinner that night. Finn was standing at the bar, getting both himself and Rachel a new drink. "It seems like Rachel and Finn would definitely be the first to get drunk, anyway."

Kurt had basically moved in with Finn and Rachel until the wedding. It had been a lesson of extreme patience and willpower on Finn and Rachel's part. Not only did they have to deal with the twenty-four/seven mention of the wedding planning, they had to deal with Kurt's clothes and his hair products and his sleepovers with Blaine.

Finn loved his brother dearly—however, he was not thrilled with the idea of accidentally walking in on Kurt having sex with Blaine in the shower.

"One of us should go rescue her," Quinn said as they watched Rachel with Kurt. This was supposed to be her night, after all. She looked happy, but a little bit too tired. She didn't need to worry about anything other than how perfect her wedding day was going to be.

Santana and Puck exchanged looks, but neither of them made a move to go and rescue Rachel. They both loved her, but there was no way that they were going to put themselves in Kurt's line of fire before they absolutely had to. Quinn sighed heavily and grabbed Santana's flask. She finished about half of what was left in there before she crossed the room and tried to separate Kurt from Rachel.

"Ah! The man of the hour!" Puck clapped Finn on the back as he joined their little group. "How's it going, man?"

"At least the wedding is tomorrow," Finn said. He had a beer in one hand, and it was already halfway gone. The whole family was now heavily relying on alcohol in an attempt to ignore Kurt. It was starting to lose its effect.

Santana offered the flask to Finn. "We could lock him up until he agrees to stop being such a pain in the ass," she told him.

Finn laughed, but he accepted the flask from Santana and took a swig of it. He wrinkled his nose as he pulled it away from his lips. "Fireball? Really, Santana?"

"What? I like it." Santana snatched the flask back away from him. "Fuck you, Hudson. It might be your wedding day tomorrow, but that doesn't mean you can hate on my Fireball."

Finn rolled his eyes and pushed Santana away. "Go give some to Rachel. It looks like she needs it."

Santana cursed at him, but she did as she was told and went to go find her friend. The three girls huddled together and began to share what was left of the flask of Fireball. The sight made Finn smile. It was good to see them being so silly together, especially because Rachel had been so stressed for the past week.

At least the wedding would be tomorrow. After that, they would be on their honeymoon to the English countryside, where no one—not even Kurt—could bother them. He couldn't wait.

"So. Are you excited, man?" Puck asked.

"Of course," Finn said without hesitation. A smile formed on his face, and he got a dreamy, wistful look in his eyes that Puck had made fun of him for many times since Finn had started dating Rachel. "I've wanted to marry Rachel for a long time."

Puck chuckled. "I give you credit for wanting to be shackled to my sister for life. I lived with her for over twenty years. She's a pain in the ass, dude." Finn shoved Puck's shoulder in retaliation, and it made Puck laugh even harder. "Still. I'm happy for the two of you."

"Thanks." It was probably the most sentimental that Puck would ever get, and Finn appreciated it. He knew that Kurt had been driving his best friend crazy ever since Finn had announced his engagement, and he was glad that Puck was still one of his groomsmen.

Puck took a sip of his own drink. "I've been thinking about proposing to Quinn."

"Really?" Despite the fact that it meant that there would be more wedding planning in his immediate future, Finn was happy for his best friend. "When were you thinking about doing it?"

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "Sometime around the holidays. I've bought the ring already, so now I just have to plan it."

"Well, don't tell Rachel," Finn advised. "She can't keep a secret to save her life."

Of course, Rachel picked that moment to make her way over to her brother and her husband-to-be. "I can keep a secret!" she protested loudly. "What are we even talking about, anyway?"

"Nothing," Finn and Puck said at the same time. Rachel shot them a suspicious look, but Finn distracted her by kissing her soundly. Puck made the same gagging noise that his girlfriend had made earlier, but Finn and Rachel ignored him.

"Now that the two of you are going to be married, does that mean that you'll have even more disgusting display of public affection than usual?" Puck demanded.

Rachel stuck her tongue out at her older brother. "It's more than likely," she said, just to annoy him.

It was then that Kurt came bustling over to them. By some miracle, his gaze was directed at Puck instead of Finn and Rachel, like it normally was. Puck did his best to ignore Kurt, but Kurt easily solved that problem by poking Puck repeatedly in the shoulder.

Finn and Rachel gave Puck some credit; he lasted for about thirty seconds, which was twenty-five seconds longer than they thought he would last. Finally, Puck sighed dramatically and looked down at Kurt.

"What do you want, Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants?"

The tips of Kurt's ears turned pink. He tried to pretend like the nickname didn't bother him anymore, but of course it still did—especially because Finn now used it every chance he got. It was a sort of payback for Kurt basically moving in with them, and Finn felt no shame over it.

"It's time for you to make the toast, Puckerman," Kurt said. "I hope you've prepared something better than crass and inappropriate jokes."

Puck whipped out a piece of paper from the back pocket of his (Kurt-approved) suit pants. "That's all I've got, Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants."

Puck ran off to the front of the room, searching for a microphone so he could make his toast. Kurt ran after him, protesting loudly enough that the whole room could hear him. Rachel rolled her eyes and tucked herself into Finn's side, pressing her hand over his heart. The steady thump of his heart under her hand was soothing.

"By this time tomorrow, we'll be married," Finn reminded her.

Rachel beamed at him. "I can't wait."

* * *

 **sixteen.**

Rachel accepted the bouquet of pink tulips from Quinn, and she made sure that the jeweled belt on her waist was sitting properly before she turned to face her bridesmaids.

They were wearing pink dresses that were strapless and made of lace, and they had their own small bouquets of pink and white tulips. Rachel couldn't have been more thankful for her best friends, and today, it was finally all coming together. Santana had already even cried, even though she would deny it to anyone who asked about it.

Finn and Rachel were having their ceremony in the gardens of the hotel they had picked for their venue, just as they wanted. The flowers that had bloomed that summer were absolutely beautiful, and it would make the perfect backdrop for when Rachel and Finn vowed to spend the rest of their lives together.

"Okay, okay!"

The familiar voice of her soon to be brother-in-law made Rachel whip around. She stared at Kurt with wide eyes, unable to believe that he was actually standing in front of her. She was due to walk down the aisle in approximately seventy-five seconds (per Kurt's schedule). Kurt was already supposed to be standing next to Finn up at the altar.

"Kurt. What the hell are you doing?" Rachel demanded.

Kurt smiled at her and adjusted the headset that was perched in his ear. "I wanted to make sure that we got you down the aisle on time. Of course, Santana and Quinn have to go before you, and I wanted to be absolutely certain that the timing would be perfect."

She was only about twenty minutes away from actually being married to Finn. Rachel was fairly positive that she could hold on until then, but she also wondered if it was possible that Kurt was going to give her an aneurysm on her wedding day.

" _Kurt_. You're supposed be standing next to Finn at the altar," Rachel reminded him. Quinn and Santana were already laughing, but Rachel was doing her absolute best to ignore her friends. They were being no help at the moment

"I know." Kurt waved a dismissive hand. "I told Finn that I just needed a few moments to get back here—"

"What, were you going to walk down the aisle with me?" Rachel's voice grew shrill at the end, and Santana and Quinn knew that they needed to find a way to fix this little situation before Rachel's fathers arrived to escort her down the aisle.

Kurt opened his mouth to protest, but he never actually got a chance to speak. That would be because Quinn and Santana cracked the doors opened and shoved Kurt through them. They slammed the doors shut quickly behind them, holding onto the handles so Kurt couldn't pull the doors open again. He would have no choice but to go down the aisle and stand next to Finn at the altar.

Finally, Rachel's shoulders relaxed, and a relieved smile came over her face. She hugged her two best friends tightly, and then Leroy and Hiram appeared. They were ready to escort their daughter down the aisle, and she was ready to get married. Quinn and Santana headed down the aisle, and then it was Rachel's turn.

The wedding march started, the doors swung open, and Rachel caught sight of Finn waiting at the end of the aisle for her for the first time.

She was happy and she was ready, and she loved Finn Hudson. From the look on his face, she knew that he felt the exact same way.

* * *

 **seventeen.**

"It's no secret—by now, all of you know about Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants."

The whole crowd at the reception laughed. Finn grinned from where he was standing on stage with his wife as he let the laughter die down. They had eaten and they had gone through all of the toasts, but Finn and Rachel had privately decided that they wanted to give their own, special toast.

(It had been completely hilarious when both Finn and Rachel had climbed up onto the stage. It hadn't been a part of Kurt's itinerary for the night, and he looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. Puck had held Kurt down in his chair while Blaine calmed him down.)

"Whatever the wedding planning equivalent of a bridezilla is, that was Kurt," Finn continued. "And even though he drove us all crazy, none of this would have been possible without him. I know we gave you a lot of grief, and we're probably never going to stop calling you Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants. But you're my best friend, Kurt. And I couldn't ask for a better brother. Thank you for making this day perfect for me and Rachel. I love you, man."

Tears were shining in Kurt's eyes now. He had stopped struggling against Puck, and now he was sitting quietly with Puck, Blaine, Santana, and Quinn as Finn handed the microphone to Rachel. She beamed at Kurt and blew him a kiss.

"You're one of the best people I know, Kurt Hummel," Rachel began. "And you have a gift for making people feel special. You went above and beyond for Finn and me, and I can't thank you enough. This day was everything that I had dreamed of, ever since I was a little girl. You brought it to life for me, and I doubt that I'll ever be able to truly express how much it means to me. You're the best, Kurt."

Kurt couldn't take it anymore. He jumped out of his seat, and Puck and Blaine let him. He sprinted towards the stage and vaulted himself up on to it, much to the amusement of the wedding guests. He threw himself into Finn and Rachel's waiting arms, hugging them tightly.

Carole (who had already cried multiple times that day) was sobbing into her napkin while Burt rubbed her back. The guests started clapping wildly while Kurt blubbered all over Finn and Rachel. Finn finally managed to detach Kurt from his wife, and he ruffled his hair for good measure. Kurt was so thrilled with their toasts and the day in general that he wasn't even annoyed.

"Do you forgive us for going off schedule now, Kurt?" Finn teased.

Sniffling, Kurt hugged his brother again. "Of course I do, you big oaf. Thank you."

Rachel smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Kurt," she said again. Despite the craziness of the last several months, the wedding had come together beautiful, and a lot of it had been because of Kurt. He deserved both their recognition and gratitude, along with their endless teasing.

Kurt whipped a handkerchief out of his pocket and quickly wiped his face with it. He straightened his tuxedo jacket and fixed his hair before he shooed Rachel and Finn off of the stage. "Go on, the two of you need to have your first dance as husband and wife!"

"I guess we can let him boss us around for a little while longer," Rachel joked as the beginning notes of Journey's "Faithfully" started up.

Finn pulled his wife into his arms and held her close as he began to sway. "I'm giving him ten minutes of interrupted bossing before I start making fun of him again." He ducked his head down and kissed Rachel, not caring that the kiss might have just a little too passionate for public. "I'm glad I'm married to you, Rachel Hudson."

She beamed at him and looked at the matching band that now sat next to her engagement ring. "Me too, Finn Hudson."

* * *

 **eighteen.**

 ***Two Years Later***

"You're not going to throw up, are you?"

"Finn!" Rachel shoved her husband's shoulder, _hard_. Finn winced and rubbed the place where her little fist had hit him. For someone so tiny, she sure was strong. "Don't be a jackass!"

Finn held his hands up in surrender, but he was grinning. The smile he was wearing hadn't left his face since Rachel had shared her news with him a little over a week ago. He had been impressed that she had kept her suspicions to herself as long as she had, but he wasn't about to share that with her.

"I love you," he said instead.

Rachel immediately smiled at him and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. "I love you too."

Finn took Rachel's hands and pulled her to a stop before she could enter his parents' house. "You know that they're going to go crazy when we tell them, right?"

A smile began to formed on Rachel's lips. "That's what you said when we got engaged, you know."

Finn shot his wife a meaningful look. "I was right, wasn't I? Don't you remember how crazy we were? And it was all because of _Kurt_."

"We got the most perfect wedding because of Kurt," Rachel reminded her husband. "And we got him back when we got him wasted at his bachelor party before he married Blaine, remember?"

"I know," Finn said. Kurt reminded him every chance he got, after all. "Still. You know we're going to go through all of it once again with the baby shower."

"You know that Kurt loves us, Finn!"

"You're just saying that because of your pregnancy hormones."

Rachel shot him a glare so intense that Finn actually shrank back. He smiled sheepishly and kissed her cheek. "I love you," he said again.

Rachel rolled her eyes, but she kissed Finn again. All was forgiven, and Finn was relieved that he successfully avoided that argument.

With that, Finn and Rachel entered the Hudmel house. Just like it had been about four years ago, Kurt had pushed a wine glass into Rachel's hand as soon as she entered the house. He was chattering about the cheese plate, along with the artisanal tortilla chips and organic salsa he had found.

Rachel ignored Kurt completely and made a beeline for the salsa and tortilla chips. She set aside her wine glass, and Finn didn't miss the way his mother immediately zeroed in on that particular detail. He sighed heavily and accepted the beer Blaine handed him, even though it was already in a glass. Rachel was now his designated driver for the next six or so months, after all, and Finn was going to need to keep the beers coming if he was going to make it through this night with his sanity intact.

Kurt gasped dramatically as Rachel shoveled several chips covered in salsa into her mouth, followed by three slices of cheddar cheese. "Rachel! You've been spending way too much time around Finn. Where are you manners? And why aren't you drinking your wine? It pairs perfectly with that cheese, you know."

Rachel swallowed the food she was chewing and moved to stand next to Finn. She smiled at him and took his hand, making him grin at her in return. Carole had already gasped sharply, and Burt was grinning like a fool at the two of them. Blaine had a knowing smile on his face, while Kurt was still silently fuming that Rachel hadn't eaten her cheese with the wine he had picked out.

"Rachel and I have an announcement to make," Finn said. The moment was similar to one he had had over four years ago. It had been in this exact room, with the people that he loved so much. Finn couldn't think of anything better.

Rachel slid her hand over her stomach. "I'm pregnant!"

The room erupted into screams of happiness and congratulations. For four people, they sure were loud. Finn and Rachel were hugged by the Hudmel family all at once, making them both laugh. Carole was kissing Rachel's cheek and thanking her over and over again for making her grandmother, while Burt and Blaine were clapping Finn on the back and toasting him and Rachel over their newfound parenthood.

Once Kurt had extracted himself from the hug, he had immediately dove for his iPad and was already yapping about themes for a gender reveal, followed by the baby shower. Rachel's eyes went wide as soon as she tuned into what Kurt was saying.

"Kurt Hummel-Anderson! I am not having a gender reveal party for my baby. I want to be surprised!"

Finn sighed and drained the rest of his beer. He should have known that the craziness was going to start as soon as he and Rachel made their announcement.

Kurt gaped at Rachel. "How am I supposed to plan the theme for the baby shower if we don't have a gender reveal party?" Kurt demanded. He was tapping away at his iPad, even though he wasn't actually looking at it. "Though I suppose we could do something incorporated both pink and blue. We could even do green or yellow, since that's so _in_ now…"

Rachel just sighed as she went into Finn's waiting arms. He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her forehead as his hand settled over her stomach. Their baby was growing in there. No matter how crazy Kurt got, he was always going to be excited for their baby.

"So. Sergeant Mc Fancy Pants makes his return," Finn said.

Rachel dissolved into laughter as Kurt gasped loudly. "I heard that!"

* * *

 **I know I have so many other things to work on, but this idea wouldn't leave me alone. Thanks for reading! :)**


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